Ricardo Sanchez

A Chicano is a native born citizen of the United State of America, usually of Mexican or Native American descent, and is active in the movement for civil and social rights, equality, educational, and economic opportunity. Ricardo Sanchez was Chicano. His poems are an autobiography of his life. He wrote about the hatred that white Americans felt toward him and how he tried to understand that hatred. His writings were also his weapons. He used the words of his poems and newspaper columns to fight back against a society of oppressors. Ricardo Sanchez struggled to identify himself as Chicano in the harsh and prejudice society of America.

"El Paso is still anti-Chicano. They're all trying to be Hispanics or 'Highpanics.' It's anti-Chicano because Chicano is a word of confrontation, it tells the system, we define ourselves. We're part of the Latino world but we define ourselves. Nobody else defines us, and this is a dangerous line to take because it means that we don't bow. I know they can kill me. I am vulnerable, but it doesn't matter. I am going to die anyway. But I have to say what I need to say. I have to do what I need to do."-Ricardo Sanchez (1) Growing up in El Barrio del Diablo, a neighborhood in El Paso, Texas, Sanchez was consistently told that he could not amount to anything in life. In an interview from the Revolutionary Worker newspaper, Sanchez recalled a time when his teacher discouraged his dream of becoming a poet. "Oh, Ricardo, you are just going to disappoint yourself. Mexicans don't become poets. The only thing your people do is you serve us. You pick up our garbage, you clean our streets. Your know, you do that kind of stuff. That's all you people are good for....To be a poet you have to have a good mind, and you people don't have those, so don't disillusion yourself." (1) After dropping out of school, Ricardo Sanchez went through a rough period in his life. Sanchez lost the will to live after the deaths of two of his brothers. These events led him to make a foolish decision to commit armed robbery. After he got out of prison, he married his wife, Maria Teresa. The financial strain of a family led him to commit armed robbery again. When he was released from prison, he was ready to fight and make a difference in the Chicano communities around the United States.

Sanchez was considered an undeveloped poet because of his past and the topics he wrote about. After earning a G.E.D., Ricardo Sanchez earned a Ph.D. To Sanchez, it stood for Pinto Highly Developed. Pinto is Chicano slang for convict. (1) While he was in prison, he began to write seriously and fulfill his dream to be a poet. Sanchez wrote the truth as he saw it about what he was experiencing in his life. He wanted Americans to open their eyes to see what was happening to Chicano people. He saw his culture being oppressed. The youth were taught that they could not amount to anything in life. Their status in life was to pick up the garbage for the Americans, even though they are Americans. Most critics rejected his poems because they considered his writings to be "archaic" (2). "Stylistically, they were archaic, I really didn't think they knew what they were doing.... Now, the poems, what can you say? They were not very well written." (2) Many other critics have agreed and said that Sanchez did not know what he was doing in his writings. I believe that the poems were rejected because they touched on a subject that is sensitive to America. Sanchez was bringing up an issue that most people wanted to avoid. When Sanchez wrote most of his poetry, America was the land of opportunity only if you were a white male. America had, and still has problems, and Sanchez confronted them. "He did not shy away from expressing his thoughts in his poems, notes, or newspaper columns written for San Antonio and El Paso dailies, and he disregarded the effect that these words might have on other people or on his career as a writer." (3)

The Chicano movement started in the 1960's. The movement was the struggle to achieve equality and full rights as citizens of the United States. Throughout Sanchez's poetry, Ricardo Sanchez was a voice of Chicano Resistance. He consistently used the word "Raza" or the race of "his people." He expresses his want for the Chicano youth to stand up for their rights. He wanted to encourage people of all nationalities to stand up for themselves, and not let the American government disregard them.

In the poem, "en lo in", Sanchez speaks of the strength of the culture. The movement is exhausting, but the Chicanos will not give up. The Chicano movement was a movement to teach Chicanos about their past in order to strengthen their future.

miro desfiles                          I look at parades

de mujeres mestizas,                   of mestizo women,

indias                                 Indians

y gavachas,                            and foreigners,

una complejidad bella,                 a beautiful complexity,

a soleada,                             sunbathed,

y adornada                             and adorned

recorren                               travel

vacios intelectuales;                  empty intellectuals;

este museo                             this museum

lleno de bullicios,                    full of racket,

sus inquietudes y turbulencias         their concerns and turbulances

se agotean                             exhaust them

aun se enfocan                         still they focus on

en lo rigido                           the rigidness

de un pueblo (Sanchez, Ricardo)        of a people (translation by Ali Escoe)

As Ricardo Sanchez grew, so did his poetry. His focus turned towards other oppressed nationalities. He wanted to also encourage them to join the movement and stand up for their rights. He wrote many poems that were inspired by the movement. He used his poems to build a fire in people to inspire within them enough self-esteem so they could join the fight.

"Hope. Hope that people will rise and liberate themselves. And that that liberation will cascade down on my children until my grandchildren. But it's not just personal. How can one be an artist or a poet and not respond to conditions? It is criminal negligence of a poet to not respond to conditions....That doesn't mean you can't write about roses, but it does mean that you have to write about people. Because people are the ultimate flowers and they come in diverse colors." ? Ricardo Sanchez (1)

Sanchez has spoken and taught his poetry all over the world. Even though Ricardo Sanchez died in 1995, his writings still live and carry on a legacy of hope and Chicano history.

1 Revolutionary Worker- September 15, 1996---Ricardo Sanchez : Voice of Chicano Resistance--Interview by Travis Morales

2 THE PINTO POET AND THE CRITIC: RICARDO SANCHEZ AND POSTMODERN THEORY by Miguel R. Lopez

3 The Loves of Ricardo- Introduction by Roberto Barcena

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